


Down in Tokyo (I made love to a robot)

by Nina16000



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Kissing, M/M, Mentions of drugs, Neo Tokyo, One Shot, Sloppy Makeouts, nightclubs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 09:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15240306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nina16000/pseuds/Nina16000
Summary: In a world filled with soulless bodies and plastic minds, Kai meets a striking man so raw in his own humanity.





	Down in Tokyo (I made love to a robot)

The electronic dashboard was filled with pictures of beautiful specimens; wide eyes, plush lips, slim bodies and smooth skin. It was the aesthetic in Neo Tokyo, the most popular choice and the manufactured trend.

“That one. I want that one” A decisive finger landed on the screen and selected a picture, not even considering the other options.

The receptionist glanced at the man, his single hollow grey eye narrowing and dilating and shimmering with letters and symbols. “That one, the usual? Are you sure, sir?”

“Yes, I am. Always that one.” He said with an impatient tap of his foot.

“As you wish, sir. But don’t forget your limits.”

* * *

Kai walked out of the comic store onto the crowded streets of Neo Tokyo. He adjusted his scarf, nose wrinkling at the scent of recent rainfall which mixed with the petroleum fumes from outdated cars that were too unequipped to hover through the richer districts.

In his hand was a bag containing a small figurine of his favorite manga character which he had spent weeks saving up for. Why, after a grueling month at a workplace he hated where he was paid just above the minimum wage, would he buy a childish model? Simply, his life was so drained of vigor that at this point, staring at the blank eyes of a plastic toy would bring some excitement into him.

If it was an indicator of his own individuality, Kai at least picked one that challenged the popular aesthetic. He wasn’t into figures that had eyes too crystalline or hair too perfectly styled or skin too soft to be natural. He preferred quirky things like eyes that were slightly asymmetrical or noses that were a touch crooked; things that were a little more human. But then again, what even was human these days?

“Good evening, sir! Would you like to try—” He immediately turned away from the obnoxiously high-pitched voice of a droid advertising some tranquility headset. Walking as fast as he could away from the curvaceous pink-haired girl, he wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck, hoping no one else would target him.

“Have a good evening in Neo Tokyo, sir!” The girl cried after him, voice still cheerful.

Above him, a neon jungle rose high into the night sky, looming concrete buildings ornamented with such intense fluorescence that even the dirty puddles on the roads were flushed in bright colours. Koi carp-shaped drones hovered over the mobile crowds, blaring national anthems and commercials above the buzz of sanitized conversations and recycled catchphrases. Huge electronic billboards with dancing mascots and popular beverages filled the sky like bright clouds, occasionally displaying warning red messages that read ‘ _Beware of Chinese androids’_ or _‘Androids, please recharge every twelve hours’_ and ‘ _Do not engage in Human-Robot relationships’_.

He scratched an itchy spot on his neck, sighing sullenly as he waited beside a glowing bus stop. He wasn’t in the mood to return home to his crammed apartment yet and he certainly didn’t want to see overdue bills fill his computer screen.

 _“If you’re a person with a soul, then you’d better show it!”_ His boss had said to him earlier that day, stone-faced like a statue. Kai had given up on excuses ages ago, it wasn’t easy to explain having a down-day to a soulless robot with expressions and personality installed into it. Perhaps he should change jobs again, a person like him – a person with a soul– was very desired in Neo Tokyo, a city trying to hide its own decay into a soulless colony.

Kai rubbed his neck as the bus stopped in front of him, rusted surface dotted with acid rain. He wasn’t going home, he had someplace else in mind.

* * *

Far into the industrial outskirts of the city, snuck between blocks of hollow buildings and crushed temples, was a clandestine place under the guise of an abandoned warehouse. Kai walked through the narrow alleyway, stepping over discarded machinery, trampled cigarettes and syringes, and even defective droids who were slumped on the floor like ragdolls. As he moved closer to his destination, the humming grew louder. It was the sound of chattering filled with blunt emotions and rancid swearing, of coughing and out-of-tune whistling. For Kai it was the beautiful song of birdlife.

He stopped underneath a wide, crumbling building, lined with flickering pink neon writing that said, ‘ _The Cherry Mine’_. Dotted around it were loud groups that clanked their glasses and spat on the floor, the scent of alcohol and drugs thick in the air. Crackling speakers blasted forgotten tunes with non-autotuned voices and acoustic instruments. On the walls were posters displaying pictures of pretty faces, lover-bots that the lonely or unfaithful could rent.

He brushed past flowered _noren_ into the interior where the walls shuddered with the pounding rhythms. Dark figures all around him made light, flirty conversation and some pulled others into hidden rooms. People moved clumsily in the tight space and many were shouting under the blaring speakers, their grubby faces twisting with surges of emotions.

“Welcome to the Cherry Mine” A man said, walking to Kai, voice smooth but expressive. He was human, Kai could see in his droopy, brown eyes and his dress choice of a _kimono_. “I’m Baekhyun, today’s receptionist. Do you need a drink? Psychedelics? Or are you looking for company? I can get you with a good lover-bot if you want.”

“Just a drink, please” Kai said, loosening his scarf as his gaze drifted across the packed area. A few opportunistic eyes met his, but nothing stood out to him in the laser-lit room.

“Starting off with a drink this time, eh?” Baekhyun chuckled, hand ghosting over Kai’s neck as he led him to the bar. He sat on one of the torn leather chairs and an android bartender took his order, a simple beer.

Sipping from his glass, he let the music drown his mind, heart pumping with the beat as elusive figures twisted and touched on the nearby dancefloor. Some groups sat underneath lines of lanterns and engaged in heavy discussion or were drugged out into a stupor, _kiresu_ held loosely in their hands. Occasionally, stationary lover-bots at the walls of the room would switch on, eyes lighting up, and they would sashay to their latest customers, seductive expressions masking their metal faces. Despite the occasional robot, most things here were human, like the old ink paintings on the walls and wooden furniture preserved from eras where skin - and not metal - rested on them.

Only those with souls, whether androids or humans, came to the Cherry Mine. The imitation minds of soulless droids felt little need to loosen up and indulge in the nostalgia filled club. The artificial glands in their bodies pumped endorphins through their tin heads at any action deemed satisfactory by the Prime Generator – the creator of all androids with or without souls. They lived unknowingly sad existences.

Kai was human, he never had that instant gratification and he was thankful for it. It meant moments of happiness in his life were truthful, those instances where he stumbled across gold, where euphoria raced through his veins and he felt as light as a feather.

Just like in that very second.

He met the gaze of two alluring eyes, round and doe-like with delicate lashes and graced with dark, expressive brows. The suited man sat on the opposite side of the room, face partially obscured by waving hands and laser beams, but his stare remained unbroken. Kai was entranced.

The man nodded his head, an inviting smile on his face, and Kai’s heart pounded erratically as he slid off his seat. He snaked past sweaty bodies and fallen chairs until he was facing the man, buzzing with anticipation.

The man smiled, raising his own drink charmingly. “Hello, I’m Chanyeol”

“I’m Kai” He said, rubbing his neck nervously. Chanyeol patted the seat next to him and Kai sat there. The man had a second drink next to him, which he passed to Kai. It was _soju_ , unconventional and very outdated in Neo Tokyo, but it was his favorite.

“You seem like the _soju_ kind of person” Chanyeol said, voice deep and rumbling.

“And you’re a mind reader, hm?” Kai chuckled as he drunk from the glass, observing the other man in his periphery vision.

He was a fantasy that had swept into reality. Everything about Chanyeol was stunning and perfect. His prominent nose, uniquely wide eyes and long elfish ears that gave his boyish face majesty. Kai wanted to touch his dark hair, messily styled into a comma, so unlike the gel-smeared wires on the inner-city droids. Even his suit, unamazing by itself but fitting his broad figure so well, showing strength and grace simultaneously.

“I come here often” Kai said, loving how Chanyeol turned his whole face to him, listening intently. “It’s so dark here, but I’ve never seen a place brighter in Tokyo. I feel alive.”

“Me too. I always experience something fantastic here” He said, leaning closer to Kai. “Something beyond human measure”

They sat, talking very little, but were moving closer and closer together. His attraction to Chanyeol was molten lava bleeding out his chest, so strangely sudden but so powerful. Dallying was pointless, Kai couldn’t bring himself to bother and after a while, the urge burst out of his lips.

“Shall we go somewhere else?”

Chanyeol looked at him again with unreadable eyes, his cup emptied.

“I know a place” Kai said, his fingers twitching in nervousness.

The man smiled, moving gracefully off his seat and offering a hand to Kai. “Do lead the way”

They left the Cherry Mine and Kai’s bag containing the figurine lay forgotten underneath the bar.

* * *

Chanyeol was an android manufacturer, working diligently through his years in designing many models, hoping for a way to code a soul into empty shells. A pre-existing soul could be transferred between androids only so many times before it withered away. With those pressures he too was crushed underneath the weight of Neo Tokyo’s bureaucracy and found refuge in the Cherry Mine.

As they walked through the labyrinth of the city’s alleys, he told Kai about the infiltration of virus bots from Greater China into the Japanese republics and Kai listened with all ears, every word pronounced by Chanyeol engraved into his mind. Kai led him to an abandoned building, closer to the neon city skyline, and they took a shuddering lift to the rooftop. He spoke about his own monotonous office job, surrounded by androids that were either soulless or who hated him and Chanyeol listened, head nodding with sympathy.

The lift stopped halfway up, and they took the stairs instead. Soon, it was Chanyeol leading the way and Kai fell deeper and deeper for him, the taller man strutting through the dark halls like he’d done it many times before.

“We’re here” Kai said, a timid hand on his neck as they walked onto the cold rooftop. They chose a spot close to the ledge and sat on the dirty floor.

Neo Tokyo pierced the sky like a forest burning with a rainbow fire, tinting dark clouds in soft colours. Skyscrapers wore bright, multicolored billboards and their glass surfaces shimmered with neon reflections. Hovercrafts zipped between them like firefly swarms and cloud-shaped blimps soared high above. Further down in the streets, the honking of cars echoed between the towers amidst cheerful broadcasts and autotuned voices.

“My workplace is there, in a very noisy area.” Chanyeol said, pointing to a particularly tall skyscraper that advertised the latest droid technologies.

“That’s very close to the Prime Generator”

“It is. I always see new ones walk out of the gates everyday but,” He paused, and Kai met his eyes. “Few of them stick out to me. They’re too similar… they’re not human enough”

“I understand. It’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not” Kai leaned his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “I feel that this is real. This is human, isn’t it?”

Chanyeol shifted and Kai looked up at him, into his round eyes filled with emotion and the reflections of the artificial lights. “Yes” He said, voice breathy. “This is real”

Kai smiled, reaching to rub his nape, but Chanyeol suddenly took his hand and pulled it gently away. “No, focus on me.” He placed it on his own face and Kai’s thumb drifted over the soft freckles under his shimmering eyes. They stared at each other, into each other’s souls, closer and closer.

Their lips met in a soft, quiet kiss and their shadows united under the distant city lights. Kai basked in the warmth of Chanyeol’s body, of his lips, chapped and imperfect, and the sound of his breathing, fast and eager. It was completion, a key unlocking all the emotions held within his chest. They parted, breaths light but gazes heavy, mist blossoming from their mouths.

“This is what I need.” Kai said, smiling widely. “I need you”

And he pressed himself onto the other again, cradling his smooth skin, lips pecking gently around Chanyeol’s face. A hand stroked the back of his head, brushing through his hair, leaving shivering trails across his scalp. Chanyeol pulled him in, drawing a moth to a flame, and Kai draped his arms over his broad chest. Kai could feel Chanyeol’s strong heartbeats under his fingertips and he wondered if Chanyeol could feel his.

Their mouths opened, and Kai felt a foreign taste wash over his mouth, delicious as tiny sparks ran through his tongue and body. He removed his hands from Chanyeol’s face, wanting to reach for more, and so he clamped them around his back. He felt his smooth back muscles and explored them up and down, feeling Chanyeol tremble underneath him.

“I can’t get enough” Chanyeol gasped, mouth ringed with saliva and cheeks flushed red. “I want more. I need you more”

“Say no more. I am here” Kai crawled on top of him, straddling him and gazing down at the messy sight. Chanyeol’s tie was undone and his suit now ruffled and slipping from his arms. His eyes unfocused but still locked on Kai. He bowed down, touching Chanyeol’s bow-shaped lips again, finding his heavenly place. The world drowned around him, lights blurring into splashes of color and sounds dimming into faint ambience, all overshadowed by Chanyeol.

His hands rode downwards, fitting at the man’s waist and then they pulled at his shirt, untucking it. Chanyeol tensed and pulled Kai’s prying fingers away, entwining it with his own. Chanyeol pushed himself up, still embracing Kai with care, stroking his cheek with eyes that bled emotions. Their lips separated, both panting like desperate animals.

Kai looked up at him curious but calm, content bubbling in his stomach. “Why did you stop?”

Chanyeol smiled but in his eyes was sadness, so acute and profound in the way that they glimmered and how his lips trembled. “We can’t do any more than this.”

“Oh,” Kai said in comprehension but strangely not finding himself upset. “You are with someone else?”

“No. I am not.” Chanyeol’s fingers hovered over his neck and then they moved to his cheeks, caressing them. “It’s you.”

 Kai nodded, but he didn’t understand. He didn’t question it either, he just snuggled up into Chanyeol’s robust chest and they both gazed out at the vast, dazzling skyline, the chilly evening breeze tickling their swollen lips.

Time passed, maybe minutes or hours and Kai found himself feeling increasingly tired. Chanyeol too, whose eyes drooped further and further down even as the city glowed brighter and brighter.

They separated quietly. A slight shift as Chanyeol checked his watch and Kai moved slowly off him, already missing his warmth, and they stood up. They stared at each other, Chanyeol’s silhouette stark against the neon backdrop. Kai burned with the urge to touch him again and his neck ached, probably from being in such an uncomfortable position.

Walking forward, the man wrapped his fingers around Kai’s, giving them a tight squeeze. “I’ll see you again.” Then, he walked past him, down to the lower floors. Kai was left behind on the roof, Neo Tokyo’s fluorescence his only company and the ghosts of Chanyeol’s touch on his skin.

He felt tired, immensely so, and it washed away his whirling emotions, slowly but surely. His legs were heavy weights and his movements were sluggish like a sloth. After some time, he too descended to the streets, towards home.

* * *

Except Kai didn’t return home to his claustrophobic apartment. He found himself in a dark alley, the pink words ‘ _Cherry Mine’_ shining bright above him. He was tired, so tired, his vision narrowed to blurry slits as his eyelids hung low. His wobbly legs led him, his mind disconnected in a sleepy haze, and they led him to the Cherry Mine.

The area was now deserted, only a few drunkards stumbling around and androids that were low on battery moving eerily slowly. He glided inside, head hanging lower and lower, before stopping at the counter where a screen displayed a selection of lover-bots.

Baekhyun looked up at him, one of his eyes brown but the other was now grey and hollow, flickering with digits as he registered the other’s appearance. In his hand was a brown contact lens which he placed on the table. Kai was too delirious to feel surprised.

 “Ah, Kai, you are back. You’re a little late, the last one actually” The receptionist greeted him with a smile.

“Baekhyun” He slurred, feeling a burning sensation on his neck. “I’m tired”

“I know. I know” The cyborg chuckled, moving out of his desk and standing by Kai, patting his back. “We’ll get you recharged, come along”

“…Chanyeol?” Kai mumbled as Baekhyun took him through a door that was labelled ‘ _Storage room’_.

“Ah, don’t pull at my heart with such Shakespearian affairs” Baekhyun chuckled as they entered a room filled with man-sized pods, his grey eye flickering oddly. “You’ll forget about him in a few minutes anyway. I’ll have to station you at another job too… can’t have people recognizing your pretty face.”

Kai felt the back of his neck twinge painfully and reached up to scratch it, but Baekhyun knocked his hand away. From the wall he pulled out a large bundle of cables and moved them out of Kai’s sight. He felt something attach to his nape and a spark ran through him with a jolt.

“You’ve done well today, Kai” Baekhyun said, pushing him into one of the empty pods and closing the door. “One of our finest in stock. Not a single generator has made someone on par with you. Too human for a lover-bot. It’s almost like you do have a soul”

Chilly smoke filled up his vision, sending tingles up and down his weakening body and his vision tunneled down to a fading spot of light. The last thing he heard before nothingness was Baekhyun’s wistful voice.

“It’s no surprise that Mr Park, despite having made tens of thousands of droids, always keeps coming back for you”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Studio Killer's song, In Tokyo.
> 
> Poor Chankai... :(
> 
> This is a work of fiction, references to real life nations and cultures are for fictitious purposes only. Any similarity to actual events is purely coincidental


End file.
